Wednesday 6 July 2022

First juvenile Med, but, perhaps, migrant moths top the bill

The west wind continues, mainly overcast but largely dry.

South shore 
Report from Pete:

Quick Heysham outfalls and Red nab scope  from OE shore

19 Mediterranean gull visible but did include an early unringed juvenile 


Other stuff (MD)

Rock Pipits 1 on foreshore, 1 on Red Nab plus the female and the helping bird both still taking food to young near the lighthouse. But it's not clear if young were still in nest or just out of sight.

Peregrine Falcon 2 minimum - this one flushed all the birds from Red Nab before resting, empty taloned, on the sea wall.
Adult Peregrine Falcon 

But not for long, a Lesser Black-Backed gull is very territorial in this area and quickly chased it off.

Later it, or its partner, must have been successful, as two birds were flying high above the Power Station, the trailing bird "begging" like a juvenile.

Lapwing 1 
A solitary Lapwing on the saltmarsh 

Starling numbers starting to grow too

Hummingbird Hawkmoth 1 - still in the same location, it's been there for at least 12 days now and starting to show its age! This shot shows that it is losing its scales on its head and shoulders.
Hummingbird Hawkmoth showing signs or wear
(the red patches are where the scales are missing)

I finally managed to get a shot with its wings open, just as it was settling.
Hummingbird Hawkmoth 

Another moth migrant (even rarer) - this from Kevin:

A fairly rare migrant in the moth trap this morning. It's a Bordered Straw and they breed in Southern Europe and North Africa. This one is a pale individual and it's thought that ones like this originate from desert regions .. perhaps carried north after a Saharan dust storm.

Bordered Straw


There are generally two or less Lancashire record per year, and there are some years when there are none recorded .. even in the whole of the UK.